St. Landry democrat., 1887-04-30

| rifle to a servant, [ drew my revolver
and ran full at the animal from an
angle, determined that he should not
escape. He bore off II little to avoid me
as L opened fire. | knew | hit him, for
L saw him vince, but he kept straight
on to the bank of the creek, and after
taking new hold of his burden he
made spring. landed on the other
| side and fell into a heap, dead. The
| servants crossed and brought over both
bodies. 1t was with the native as the
tiger hunters had suspected. In leap
ing upon him the animal had given
him blow which broke his neck. The
one cry we heard was all that he ut
| tered. When we came to look his dead
| body over, we found that four of our
| bullets had hit it, but he was dead long
enough before a shot was fired. In the
case of the tiger he had been hit nine
! times, and three of the bullets had
reached vital spots. One of his fore
legs was broken, and he had carried his
| burden the last thirty feet and made
legs.
The next day was ushered in with
drizzling rain, and it was nearly de-
cided mott have any general beat up
for game, but to overhaul arms and
| trappings and make ready for the next
day. Soon after breakfast [ took my
repeating rifle and navy revolver, slip
ped some extra cartridges into my
pocket, and set out alone to have a
look at the deserted village below us.
Il warn you to be careful SIR eau
toned native tiger slayer as / passed
the spot on which he was mending a
saddle.
"Oh. I have no fear, and the wild
beasts will be asleep this morning, any
how"
"Some may not he answered, with
q dubious shake of the head, and he
was looking after me as entered the
brush.
l had forgotten to say that during the
night we were greatly disturbed by the
noises around us. We kept several
large fires going, and while these pre-
vented marauding bea is from coming
too near, the glare probably attracted
them to the locality. One could dis
tinguish the spit of the panther, the
snarl of the tiger, and the voice of the'
lion; and added to these were the howl
of the wolf. the chatter of the hyena,
and the yelp of the jackal. Truly, we
had struck rich fino. Driven out of
the other districts, the beast creation
had made their way to this, and the
sound of hunters rifle had not been
heard here for years.
l had not gone a quarter of mile
from camp when a large black snake
ran Kissing away from my feet, and I
heard wild beast of some sort making
its way in the thicket. These were
proofs that could not be overprudent,
and thereafter | kept my eyes about
me and my rifle ready for instant serv-
ice. The village was strung along
the creek for half mile, but the first
hut | came to was an Enclosure that
had been used for a council house.
The four walls were of adobe, while
the roof was matched. There were
really but three walls, one end being
left open except slight return of each
side wall. This open space was at
least twenty feet across. while there
was room enough inside for 400 people
to sit or stand. The open end looked
back in the direction I had come, and
twenty feet away was the beginning of
wall which extended for about 800 feet
1t was about four feet high. made of
adobe, and / could not make out for
what purpose it had been erected. If
an enemy had been expected to APP
proach from east or west this wall !
would have been a good breastwork, al
though its left flank could have easily |
been turned. ,
/ stood there for three Or four min
utes scanning the interior of the build
ing, and then walked to the further end
Ct it. There was a couple Of whitened
skulls on the ground, and 1 gave one
of them a kick. As did so an insect or
q reptile of some sort issued forth with |
great swiftness and stung or bit me
on the left wrist. Its movements were |
so rapid that I could not say whether
it flew or sprang at me. | simply
caught a glimpse OF two of a dark, |
hairy object, and then felt the pain,
which was as severe as if 1 had been |
touched with a red-hot iron. l car
ried an antidote for insect and reptile |
poisoning. Near the great doorway |
was a block of wood, and [ went to it,
pulled off my coat, pushed up my sleeve,
and examined the wound. There was
but one puncture, but it had drawn
blood, and the flesh was rapidly